Mists of Pandaria

[Salculd]

Huh. Well, that's.... strange. I can think of several directions this could be going in, both for the good and the bad, but there really isn't enough information to draw any kind of reasonable conclusion from yet. If this is an expansion, it'd be a very good idea to withhold judgment until more concrete details emerge, because out of context, it just seems incredibly bizarre. I'm sure there's an explanation (though I won't deign to predict its quality).

[Arrowstormen]

I hope it is a Warcraft 4: Mists of Pandaria instead of an expansion, I'd enjoy having a new Warcraft RTS, seeing as Starcraft takes place in a futuristic theme and I prefer the middle-earth/fantasy type.

Not big chances for a WC4 really.

[Edlarel]

Going out on a limb, but the parts of that list that were correct were fairly spot on.... I'm really interested now in what race we would get that goes to the Plains of Xoroth between levels 10 and 20... Isn't Xoroth the Dreadsteed homeworld?

Please don't flame, I'm just curious about what is actually correct.. I guess we'll see.

[Bristae]

I QUIT!Panderans were NEVER in the lore.. EVER EVER EVER.. they were made up as a cross promotion years ago with Panda Express.... Not to mention that they WILL lose China's blessing. China takes the image of a panda SERIOUS. China WILL block WOW from the country if Pandarans are put in.... FAIL FAIL FAIL....Star Wars TOR..... Here I come....

[Arrowstormen]

Huh. Well, that's.... strange. I can think of several directions this could be going in, both for the good and the bad, but there really isn't enough information to draw any kind of reasonable conclusion from yet. If this is an expansion, it'd be a very good idea to withhold judgment until more concrete details emerge, because out of context, it just seems incredibly bizarre. I'm sure there's an explanation (though I won't deign to predict its quality).

I like you. You make sense.

You deserve cookies and internet connection beyond human dreams.

[Otaka]

what if its the next Warcraft game? Warcraft IV: MoP?

[Edlarel]

I QUIT!Panderans were NEVER in the lore.. EVER EVER EVER.. they were made up as a cross promotion years ago with Panda Express.... Not to mention that they WILL lose China's blessing. China takes the image of a panda SERIOUS. China WILL block WOW from the country if Pandarans are put in.... FAIL FAIL FAIL....Star Wars TOR..... Here I come....

Don't let the door hit you on the way out...

I for one am totally looking forward to this. Speculation aside, it sounds like it'll be a lot of fun.

[Arrowstormen]

I QUIT!Panderans were NEVER in the lore.. EVER EVER EVER.. they were made up as a cross promotion years ago with Panda Express.... Not to mention that they WILL lose China's blessing. China takes the image of a panda SERIOUS. China WILL block WOW from the country if Pandarans are put in.... FAIL FAIL FAIL....Star Wars TOR..... Here I come....

You made an account just for this?

I can only say, bye!

[Dawn Falcon]

Some games companies will do this kind of thing to screw with their fans heads, as well. It's cheap publicity...

I'd mock, but Boub has a record of getting this stuff right.

[greyghost]

So begins the "Which faction gets Pandarians" debate.

My vote is on "both or neither." I mean, there's already 3 iterations of humans in the game, one of which a different faction from the others.... why not? Pandarians were always depicted having a pole banner at their backs, just have them show Alliance or Horde symbols and toggleable like Worgen form.

That or make them yet another awesome, superior-looking NPC race we never get to play.

Problem solved.

[Nekosom]

People like to complain, but Pandaria was always an intriguing idea. WoW's lore has always been an amalgamation of all sorts of different myths, from different European myths to Native American and, more recently, Egyptian. The one thing they've never touched is Eastern lore. And I'm not just talking about China or Japan..India also has a rich mythological tradition that could work very well in WoW. As much as people like to say the Panderans were a "joke" race, the idea of land in Azeroth where Blizzard could go an entirely different direction storywise is too appealing for them to pass up. It was only a matter of time, and I say now is as good a time as any. I'd imagine Pandaria will wind up being located opposite Northrend on the edge of southern Azeroth.

[lovelust]

I don't see why Pandaren are necessarily "joke characters with no background". Blizzard doesn't have to tell us everything about the game, and It's safe to assume we don't know everything about the game. The lore we do know is the lore they chose to share with us, which is always able to be added to.
On a related note, most authors/creators really don't tell you that much about the worlds they create. The worlds in their minds are always much larger than they're able to express properly. Always.

[Klasis]

This feels like something to get back at china

[MrHappy]

thumbs up if u heard "Pandemonium!" in your head while reading this

[Agoonga]

Pandaren FTW

[TobyKenobi]

My guess is that panda's will just be NPC not playable. New hero class will be some sort of Monk, playable by all races, starting area will be some Pandaran Monastery maybe in Stonetalon starting around level 70?

"A splinter group of pandaren arrived on Kalimdor in the aftermath of the Third War and has established a settlement in the Stonetalon Mountains ofKalimdor,^[1] but the location remains as secret as that of their island homeland."

Maybe someone could scope out some of the empty spaces around stonetalon and see if there is a good place to put a small village or phased starting area.

[KEFIOX]

To everyone saying this might be a book or it's a decoy or something else.Lets travel back in time to

July 2007:http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...l-confirmationBlizzard Trademarks "Wrath of the Lich King"People were barely seeing Illidan kills and such. I don't think Kil'jaeden and the Sunwell was even announced yet (correct if i'm wrong), Then it was Officially announced at Blizzcon

August 2009:http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...Cataclysm-quotBlizzard Trademarks: "Cataclysm" Onyxia was being released soon, ICC was not out, but would be announced soon.

July 2011:
Current Post: Blizzard Trademarks: Mist of PandariaHeroic Rag has been downed by 7 guilds world wide. Deathwing is still killing people in different zones. Only seems to fit their schedule quite well. How it will affect the future of the game, well we have to wait till October. Something Fresh?

Let the speculations begin!

This. I'm definitely calling this the next expansion, as silly as it may be it excites me. Pandaren won't be playable but I'm sure it will be some kind of new Shatt/Dal city hub. New Hero class, I doubt it being a Monk but compare that to Brewmaster and it just seems so much more realistic. Either way I'm looking forward to it, I'm sure it will somehow invole Queen Azshara.

[Arrowstormen]

what if its the next Warcraft game? Warcraft IV: MoP?

.....

Chances are so small that it's not to believe.

The expansion to WoW is WAY closer than ANY idea of WC4.

In fact, I'm willing to bet it won't happen within 10 years, if ever. Not when SC2 just came out, they Titan on work, expansion on work, D3 on work, and SC2 expansions on work.

[mmathes339]

Judging from the international codes it would appear that it would be an expantion and not a book. Could be that panderia is a mess after the cataclysim and require assistance. My guess the races introduced would be panderen (horde) and furbolgs (alliance). Yea, bear ppl for everyone.

[Iamheals]

+1 for good distraction